1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bag which can be used to prepare a sample in examining microorganisms adhering to a piece of bread, a solid material or a specimen containing a solid material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the case that a specimen to which microorganisms such as bacteria adhere contains a solid material, a uniform sample solution for examination cannot be obtained directly from such a specimen. In general, therefore, the sample solution has been prepared by first adding a sterilized physiological saline to a specimen, shaking the resulting mixture to wash the specimen, removing the slid material therefrom, and if necessary, further diluting it. As methods for removing the solid material from the mixture of the specimen and the sterilized physiological saline, there are (1) a method of collecting a supernatant liquid after the solid material has precipitated, (2) a method of filtering the mixture with a filter paper, and the like. In addition, for a convenient removal operation, such a bag shown as in FIG. 5 has been also contrived (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, p. 765-769, Sept. 1982). Now, the usage of the bag shown in FIG. 5 will be explained. A mixture is first introduced through an opening inlet of the bag into a large chamber (crude solution chamber) X which is one of two divided chambers in the bag, is then filtered through a filter portion 3 made of a filter paper, is guided into a small chamber (sample solution chamber) Y, and is poured into another container through an outlet of the bag. In FIG. 5, a member E is a heat-sealed partition wall, and a member F is a heat-sealed baffle board for preventing a solid material from flowing out through the opening inlet of the crude solution chamber. This conventional bag is extremely convenient and excellent in which the solid material is separated sanitarily from the crude solution in the bag. However, the prepared sample solution must be transferred to another container which is additionally necessary, and therefore this conventional bag is not always satisfactory.